Morganton Beats Davenport in LLWS

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) _ Center fielder Trevor Tallent knew he'd get a chance to redeem himself after he dropped a fly ball and cost his team a run. <br/><br/>Talent hit a three-run homer in

Friday, August 20th 2004, 8:19 pm

By: News On 6

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) _ Center fielder Trevor Tallent knew he'd get a chance to redeem himself after he dropped a fly ball and cost his team a run.

Talent hit a three-run homer in the second inning to put Morganton, N.C., ahead for good in a 10-4 victory over Davenport, Iowa, in Friday's opening game of the Little League World Series.

Tallent allowed the game's first home run to bounce off his glove and over the wall just a few feet from where his own homer crossed over.

``When I dropped that ball, I was really disappointed,'' Tallent said. ``But when I hit the home run, it got my confidence back up.''

In other games, Panama City, Panama, beat Ottawa, Ontario, Canada 12-2 in five innings; the game between Lincoln, R.I., and Thousand Oaks, Calif., was postponed until Tuesday because of rain.

Down 3-2 with two outs, Aaron Attaway and Chris Fine both singled to set up Tallent's go-ahead shot over the center field wall.

``It is a team game. If you make a mistake, one mistake is not going to lose the game for us,'' North Carolina manager Alan Lail said. ``All of them just need to keep their head in the game and have fun. We were tight the first two, three innings.''

Iowa pulled within 5-4 in the fourth when Tyler Woody stole second, then scored on two fielding errors.

But Fine padded the North Carolina lead with a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth. Tallent scored on a wild pitch, making it 8-4 at the end of the inning. Nick Chapman and Attaway scored on a fielding error in the fifth to provide the final margin.

``From an offensive standpoint, they did a really good job hitting,'' Iowa manager Thomas E. Kenyon Jr. ``Those home runs really hurt us.''

Eli Lawson earned the win for North Carolina. Trevor Kenyon took the loss.

Iowa took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first when Jacob Gibson's fly to center field bounced off Tallent's glove and over the wall, driving in Cody Lambert.

``We were a little shaky the first inning, but pretty quickly settled in, as has happened in past games,'' Lail said.

North Carolina came back to tie the game in the bottom of the inning, with Attaway scoring on a bases-loaded walk and Fine coming home on a passed ball.

Iowa took its last lead in the second when Joseph Black doubled, then scored on Cody Perreault's RBI single for a 3-2 lead.

Panama 13, Canada 2, 5 innings

Alexis Martinez hit a three-run homer and gave up just one hit for Panama City, which earned the mercy rule win when Eduardo Fruto and Gonzalez hit RBI singles in the fifth. Canada had a 2-0 lead in the first after runners scored on a passed ball and a wild pitch.